VIA Pharmaceuticals has released results from a sub-study of patients taking VIA-2291, the company's Phase II lead drug. Patients with acute coronary syndrome received medical imaging scans before and after six months of treatment with VIA-2291. Researchers found that scans from patients treated with placebo showed significantly more evidence of new plaque lesions at follow-up than VIA-2291 treated patients. MDCT scans of patients with low density plaques demonstrated statistically significant, lower plaque volumes in combined VIA treated groups compared to placebo. The company says that these results, taken together, suggest that the experimental drug could reduce the progression of coronary plaques, which result in heart attacks and stroke.
"This innovative imaging technology has, for the first time, allowed us to visually and non-invasively demonstrate a reduction in plaque volume and a reduced number of new plaque lesions," said Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, Director of the Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre, professor of medicine at the and principal investigator of the VIA-2291 ACS trial. The company will now pursue larger clinical trials of the drug.
- check out VIA's release